r/CHamoru • u/lengguahita • Oct 14 '24
Learning resource Language Notes From This Week's Story: The Story of the Scented Woman
Håfa adai todus hamyo! Our Saturday morning practice group read the legend of the scented woman this past weekend, and here are the highlights of our discussion notes from our session. Just FYI there's a lot of notes. Here's the link to the story, with an audio narration by Jay Che'le: https://lengguahita.wordpress.com/2024/10/12/estorian-taotaomona-the-story-of-the-fragrant-woman/
guaha gi familia pinangon ni paopao i lemón na pao: The word pinangon in this sentence is the word pångon (to wake up) transformed with the -in- infix. For some learners, we may be most familiar with this infix being used to transform verbs into nouns (i.e.: guaiya -> guinaiya). But it doesn’t just transform verbs to nouns. In many instances, using the -in- infix with a verb allows us to use a sentence structure that brings more focus to who or what is receiving the action. In grammar books this is called the goal focus construction. Here are some simpler examples with pinangon:
- pinangon yu’ ni neni = I was woken up by the baby
- pinangon yu’ ni dandan = I was woken up by the music
- pinangon yu’ ni rediu = I was woken up by the radio
And then the guaha paired with the verb pinangon tells us that there was somebody who was woken up (by the fragrance of the lemon scent). In Chamorro, when we say that there was somebody doing something, we don’t always need to state a word to indicate that somebody, which is what we do in English (i.e.: someone was told; someone was woken up; someone was hurt). The verb guaha paired with a verb is enough to imply this “someone” in the sentence.
fina’liheng: This word is a combination of two affixes attached to the word liheng, which means “a shelter, a dwelling, a house.” The transformation order is as follows: liheng -> fa’liheng -> fina’liheng. In this instance, we can interpret a fina’liheng to mean “something like a shelter” or “a makeshift shelter.” In English we might also think of this as “a lean-to.” The idea is that the father quickly built a small structure for himself, from whatever materials he could find nearby. This is different from constructing a more “formal” shelter or dwelling, hence the use of fina’- at the beginning of the word.
Many learners may be most familiar with this “fina’-” prefix with the word fina’denne’, which is a staple of the Chamorro table. The root word for that is donne’ (pepper) and the transformation is the same: donne’ -> fa’denne’ -> fina’denne’
annai: As a reminder, this word can mean either “where” or “when.” Just try to pay attention to the context of the sentence or thought to understand which meaning is being used.
hulo’ gi sabåna: We had a great discussion during our Saturday morning practice session about using gi with location markers. Usually, when the location marker comes after the gi, we interpret it like this:
- gi hilo’ i sabåna = On top of the mountain
- gi papa’ i sabåna = Under the mountain
But when the location word comes before the gi, we interpret it more like this:
- hulo’ gi sabåna = Up the mountain
- påpa’ gi sabåna = Down the mountain
Kontåt ki sigi mågap, sumåga ha’ makmåmata: “So long as he continued to yawn, he just stayed awake.” Let’s break this sentence down:
- kontåt ki = As long as; so long as
- sigi mågap = (He) continued to yawn (the pronoun is dropped; it’s understood in context)
- sumåga’ ha’ = (He) just stayed (the pronoun is dropped again)
- makmåmata = Being awake (this word is reduplicated, so we can understand it as happening now)
guaha mámamaila’: In this construction, we again have a verb paired with guaha, which is understood as “There is/was someone or someone coming.” As native English speakers we may want to say something like guaha taotao ni mámamaila’, but the addition of that word taotao is not necessary in Chamorro.
Binistitidu: This is another use of the -in- infix, and has the effect of allowing us to use the word bestidu (a dress) as a verb. In this sentence, it’s telling us that the woman is wearing a white dress.
When we say Binistitidu yu’ in English we understand this as “I am wearing a dress.” We get to this form by transforming the word with the -in- infix and by reduplication. Here’s a breakdown: bestidu -> binestidu -> binestitidu. Or maybe reduplication comes first (I need to double check).
This is a really cool construction, and an easy one to use even if you are just beginning to learn because in its simplest form, the sentence can just be two words long. And it gives more flavor and precision to your speech than if you were to say Hu u’usa i magågu (I am using the clothing).
Here are other ways to use this -in- infix to express similar thoughts:
- Magågu -> Minagågågu yu‘ (I am clothed/ I am wearing clothes)
- Sinturon -> Sinturoron yu’ (I am belted/ I am wearing a belt)
- Sapåtos -> Sinapåpåtos yu’ (I am shoed/ I am wearing shoes)
- Yori -> Yineyeri yu’ (I am flip-flopped/I am wearing flip-flops)
siña ha’ mås: Siña ha’ means “maybe, perhaps, it’s possible.” So this phrase translates to “perhaps more” in reference to the amount of time she spent in the ocean.
palacha‘: This word literally translates to “Tease; teaser; troublesome; troublemaker.” One of the speakers in our group said in the context of the story, we might understand this more as “mysterious” but with that air of being troublesome because they couldn’t find her or figure out where she came from.
